Overview
The Kuali Research system utilizes Pessimistic Locking to prevent multiple people from editing a document simultaneously and causing data integrity problems. When a user has a document open they own a Pessimistic Lock on that document which prevents any other user from opening it in edit mode. If a user leaves their document without using the Close button at the bottom of the screen it will leave their lock in place preventing other users from modifying the document. Locks are cleared after 24 hours, but in the meantime this can prevent users from making needed changes. The system has a Pessimistic Lock management system that allows an administrator to delete locks which have been accidentally left in place. Any user can follow the steps below to delete a lock they created. In order to delete another user's lock you must have the Administer Pessimistic Locking permission.
Pessimistic Lock Error
When a user tries to open a document with a Pessimistic Lock in place they will receive an error message indicating the document is locked. This message varies slightly between the Kuali Research modules. When you see one of the messages below you should first check with the user to see if they are still in the document. If you delete their lock while they are still modifying the document it can cause errors.
Deleting a Pessimistic Lock
Once you have confirmed the user who holds the pessimistic lock on the document you need to access is no longer in the document you can go to the Locks item on the Quick Links card in Common Tasks of the Dashboard. Or go to All Links in the Dashboard and search Pessimistic Lock and select.
After you click on Pessimistic Lock you will be taken to a search screen. If your institution has a relatively small volume of documents you may be able to execute an empty search and find the lock you need to delete. Depending on your institution's volume though you may need to search by the Document ID or the user. If you have the module identifier (Institutional Proposal ID, Negotiation ID, etc.) you can search by the Lock Descriptor using wildcards. For example a Lock Descriptor search of *81* in the example below would only return the Negotiation lock.
Once you've found the lock you want to delete click on the delete link and it will remove the lock. After taking this action any user with the appropriate permission will be able to open the document in edit mode and make changes.
Associated Configuration
There are also additional parameters that control how the pessimistic locking works and when locks will expire; below are the associated parameters:
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